aNueNue aNN-UT3K Bird Series Koa Tenor Ukulele

1,857.00

Take aNueNue's sublime bird series design and add all solid AAAA Hawaiian koa and what do you have. Well, you have the aNueNue aNN-UT3K to state the obvious, but you also have a phenomenal package of looks, sound and playability. Yes, it is quite a price. No, it is difficult to justify such an outlay... but if you're able to put enough pennies together you'll be in possession of a simply fantastic tenor ukulele.

So the sound. The sound... Well, arduous a task as it was, I had to put this bird series uke to the test. 'Just a quick go', I thought... Soon enough though, having played my entire repertoire in every style possible, I began to worry about the point where a 'test drive' becomes making an instrument second hand! Suffice to say, it is utterly gorgeous!

I once read a comment that one of my description was 'marketing speak'. Well, excusing the fact it is my job to sell instruments, I can categorically say that there's no NEED to embellish descriptions of instruments like this, no need at all. The aNueNue aNN-UT3K is beautiful, it just is! It offers a lovely sweet tone, with a delicate sparkle on the high notes and a rich and perfectly balanced sweep of complex, mellow loveliness when strummed. Single notes shine and shimmer and it all just feels so natural.

I've also read comments saying 'well, if I was paying that much, I'd get a luthier-built uke'. Supporting small makers is great and it is a valid remark... but this uke isn't made by the apprentice who makes the tea, Japanese luthier Mitsuta Morihiko had developed a brilliant bracing system that really makes this uke sing.

There's extra sustain from the ebony bridge and fingerboard, and buffalo bone nut and saddle. The clarity of aNueNue's black water fluorocarbon strings is a real treat. And then there's Gotoh UPT planetary tuners - the only tuners I've come across that are so smooth I actually enjoy tuning!

Little features also embellish the looks, like the spalted maple soundhole design and inlaid maple fretboard markers (that are shaped like phases of the moon). There's mother of pearl headstock logo and an ebony faceplate - all finished in a flawless, glass-like gloss finish. The whole gorgeous package is safely stashed away in a blue hard case.

I'm not going to say running a ukulele store is the hardest job in the world, but believe me, when there's a uke like this hanging nearby, and you have to do something like accounts, or sorting out a problem with BT, rather than playing it - that's the hardest bit of the job!